6.5-300 Wby performance in Africa?

[leslie hetrick]

i say get a .375 H&H and be done with it. on six hunting trips hunting in three african countries. i shot over 60 animals with 95 precent being shot with the .375 with no losses. i liked the .375 H&H so much as soon as i came home after my first hunt i bought a new CZ-550 in .375 H&H.

 

[Shooter375]

My advice: you be you! If you like the 6.5-300 Weatherby then use the 6.5-300 Weatherby. But, (there is always a but) use the right bullets or only take the shot if the conditions are conducive.

Right Bullets. Use premium deep penetrating bullets like Swift A-Frame, Swift Scirroco, Nosler Partition, or Barnes TTSX etc... These bullets can be used for all shot angles including quartering on shots. If Barnes TTSX shoots accurately in your 6.5-300 then it is probably the best choice since it is best when driven fast. The 127-grain LRX BT @ 3200fps would be absolutely devastating.

Right Shot. Take only double lung shots. Shoot only broadside or slightly quartering away shots right behind the shoulder with the Berger 156's and like @gillettehunter said make sure that their hollowpoints are not plugged.

Lastly, if you want to get a 338RPM then go right a-head and it will serve you well if you use the right bullets or take the right shots.

 

[375Fox]

200 yard mule deer buck. 6.5-300 weatherby 140 grain nosler accubond at 3250 fps. This is the entrance. Heart destroyed,lungs were soup and bullet never did exit nor did I find any fragment. Deer traveled 40 yards and succumbed.

View attachment 573068

That’s exactly what you don’t want to see hunting big game. Seems strange though for an accubond at 200 yards. More what you’d expect from a varmit bullet.

 

[Opposite Pole]

200 yard mule deer buck. 6.5-300 weatherby 140 grain nosler accubond at 3250 fps. This is the entrance. Heart destroyed,lungs were soup and bullet never did exit nor did I find any fragment. Deer traveled 40 yards and succumbed.

View attachment 573068

Bloody hell, that’s a big hole. I can’t tell from the picture, did it hit the shoulder or a rib?

 

[Str8meat]

Bloody hell, that’s a big hole. I can’t tell from the picture, did it hit the shoulder or a rib?

No shoulder or leg bone , just 1 rib. The deer was on the move quartering towards me when bullet impacte. I since have harvested 3 more deer with this combo and yet to have similar result.

 

[0002S]

200 yard mule deer buck. 6.5-300 weatherby 140 grain nosler accubond at 3250 fps. This is the entrance. Heart destroyed,lungs were soup and bullet never did exit nor did I find any fragment. Deer traveled 40 yards and succumbed.

View attachment 573068

I witnessed this same performance on a speed goat this year. We were able to push a beer bottle through the hole. The damage was so extensive that if it had been a deer, 1/2 the meat would have been destroyed.

 

[Woodcarver]

200 yard mule deer buck. 6.5-300 weatherby 140 grain nosler accubond at 3250 fps. This is the entrance. Heart destroyed,lungs were soup and bullet never did exit nor did I find any fragment. Deer traveled 40 yards and succumbed.

View attachment 573068

Exploded on impact. Like others, a little surprised an Accubond did this.

Had the same result (not quite as dramatic), with a 100gr Speer SP out of a 25-06 at ~3100fps on an antelope at 79 yards this year. Overdriven for the range/velocity/bullet construction. I've had this happen once or twice in the past for the same reasons.

 

[375Fox]

Exploded on impact. Like others, a little surprised an Accubond did this.

Had the same result (not quite as dramatic), with a 100gr Speer SP out of a 25-06 at ~3100fps on an antelope at 79 yards this year. Overdriven for the range/velocity/bullet construction. I've had this happen once or twice in the past for the same reasons.
View attachment 573582

I’m surprised on the accubond failures. 6.5 weatherby is my Dad’s primary cartridge. He’s had very good performance, but he’s using Barnes TSX.

 

[Tradmark]

I used 127lrx on deer and elk and would use it on any plains game. Kills fast. Nothing has taken a step and no spine shots. This the exit wound on a whitetail at just 275 yards. I can put my fist through it and detached all the ribs except the first from the sternum. Kills very well. The velocity definitely creates huge wound cavities. Not as roy hypothesized but adds alot.

 

[dchum]

Exploded on impact. Like others, a little surprised an Accubond did this.

Had the same result (not quite as dramatic), with a 100gr Speer SP out of a 25-06 at ~3100fps on an antelope at 79 yards this year. Overdriven for the range/velocity/bullet construction. I've had this happen once or twice in the past for the same reasons.
View attachment 573582

You’re certain that’s not the exit? Entrance wounds can be tiny

 

[Woodcarver]

You’re certain that’s not the exit? Entrance wounds can be tiny

I've never had a bullet bounce back at me out of an animal, and that hole is exactly where I was aiming before it became a hole. That is the entrance wound; there was no exit.

 

[Tradmark]

Too fast for that bullet